Comparison
Vidaset vs Saturation
Both start with a budget, but they finish in different places. Saturation is a production finance platform that follows the money from the bid to the final cost report. Vidaset is where you cost the production, line by line with fees and markups, turn it into the quote your client signs, and check after the shoot what it really cost. The difference is what happens to the money during the job: purchase orders, approvals and payments.
| Saturation | Vidaset | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Production finance: budgets, actuals, purchase orders, approvals and payments in one system | Production costing and quoting: the estimate with fees, markups and discounts, and the PDF the client receives |
| Strongest at | Tracking spend against the budget through to the final cost report | Costing a job quickly and sending a branded quote the same day |
| Client document | Report builder with bid form templates such as AICP, branded headers and logos | Ten quote layouts in your colors, with deliverables, terms and the date the quote is valid until |
| Line items | Templates by production type and union rate packs for IATSE, SAG-AFTRA, WGA and DGA | 286 line items from commercial and corporate work, priced at your own rates |
| Fees and markups | Markups and fringes applied to the accounts you choose, with caps | Production fee, insurance and up to three markups, each calculated on production costs, the whole job, or everything above it |
| Options for the client | Budget phases as columns, such as estimate, committed and actual | Two or three pricing variants side by side in one document, plus optional extras |
| After the job is awarded | Actuals, purchase orders, approvals, cards and accounting integrations | Actual costs per line next to the quote, the variance and the actual margin. No purchase orders, approvals, cards or payments |
Information about Saturation comes from saturation.io and was checked on 3 October 2026. Products change; check their site for the current state.
When Saturation is the better choice
- You need cost reports, purchase orders and spending approvals on every job, not only the quote compared with actuals.
- Your team approves spending together and pays crew and vendors from the same system.
- You budget long-form or union productions in the US or Canada and want verified union rates.
- Your clients expect an AICP bid form.
When Vidaset is the better choice
- Most of your work is commercials and corporate video, and the quote is what wins the job.
- You want to send the client two or three options instead of one number.
- You need the document in Polish, or your clients are in Europe.
- You want to know after the shoot what you really made, and you already run purchase orders and payments in your accounting software.
Questions
Can I use both?
Yes. Some producers quote in Vidaset to win the job, then build the working budget in Saturation once it is awarded. The two do not exchange files, so the line items are carried over by copy and paste.
Does Vidaset track actuals?
Yes, line by line. After the shoot you enter the actual days, rates and costs that were not in the quote, and Vidaset shows the variance and the actual margin. It does not run purchase orders, approvals, payments or cost reports, and that is where Saturation is the better tool.
Does Vidaset have an AICP bid form?
Not yet. If your clients require AICP, use a tool that has it.
Where is Vidaset data stored?
On your account, in a database on servers in Frankfurt. Turn on encryption in your account settings and they are encrypted in your browser first, so nobody but you can read your quotes, not even us.
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